Uniforms of the German Colonial Troops 1884–1918 by Charles Woolley

This is a finely preserved example of Charles Woolley’s authoritative reference volume Uniforms of the German Colonial Troops 1884–1918, issued by Schiffer Publishing as part of their military history series. The book is presented in a large-format, landscape hardback binding with a vividly printed dust jacket featuring a dramatic mounted Schutztruppen patrol in desert kit. The cover art reflects Woolley’s focus on accuracy and period detail, and mirrors the strong visual emphasis seen throughout the work.

The photographs show a clean, tight binding with minimal edge wear, bright color saturation to the jacket, and no apparent tears. The rear panel depicts a field formation of German troops in tropical dress, strongly consistent with Schiffer’s visual approach to period accuracy. The interior images reveal crisp, high-resolution printing across color plates, watercolor reproductions, uniform studies, and unpublished archival photographs. The pages lie flat with no warping or staining visible, and the color plates retain full brightness. Chapter spreads include both color artworks and rare black-and-white operational views from Africa and China, confirming the book’s role as a hybrid uniformology and field-history reference.

From the photographed table of contents, the volume offers eight major chapters covering Schutztruppen home-service uniforms, Kamerun and Togo, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Deutsch-Südwestafrika, the Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps, artist sketches, naval colonial contingents, and the III. See-Bataillon. The sample pages captured—such as Schirmer’s Askari plates, watercolor depictions of field gunners, mounted field troops, and Marine-Infanterie formations at Tsingtau—demonstrate the range of sources Woolley employed. These include 19th–20th-century German illustrators, period postcards, unpublished album photographs, and reconstructed uniform studies based on extant garments. The textual sections visible in the images show detailed treatment of insignia, equipment, tropical clothing variants such as Litewka, Strohhüte, collar tabs, and service-branch distinctions.

This title remains one of the most comprehensive English-language studies on Imperial Germany’s colonial uniforms. It is particularly valuable for advanced collectors, modelers, and uniform historians due to its coverage of units for which original textiles are extremely rare—especially Schutztruppen in East Africa, Marine-Infanterie in China, and colonial police contingents. As Schiffer’s print runs for specialized subjects are limited, intact copies with bright jackets and unmarked pages continue to attract strong collector demand.

Condition is excellent, with only minor handling visible on the dust jacket edges and no flaws affecting text or plates.